294 replies to this topic

[Baro]

Glad to see our harbour authority committed to environmental donations to causes such as unplanned artificial reef-building projects.

[todd]

So close:

 

-140 kilometer winds are recorded at trial Island.

-Record reports of ufos in the crd.

-Donald trump fires half of his appointments in the first year.

-Gonzales hill erupts, triangle needs to be replaced.

-Justin trudeau grows back his goatee.

-Magnitude 5.9 earthquake, centered around constance bank.

-Ship carrying johnson street bridge materials loses load at sea.

 

[Bob Fugger]

Glad to see our harbour authority committed to environmental donations to causes such as unplanned artificial reef-building projects.

 

Huh?  When your amazon order gets lost, do you blame yourself for ordering it in the first place?

[m3m]

I don't think this is a loss that would be covered by either the supplier's or GVHA's insurance. The carrier would be responsible for safeguarding the cargo.  Why wasn't the ship arrested when it arrived in a canadian port?

[VIResident]

Well well well here we finally are.

CFAX:

VICTORIA MAYOR AND 2 COUNCILLORS RECOMMEND CRUISE SHIP INDUSTRY REGULATIONS

https://www.iheartra...87?mode=Article

 

Times Colonist

https://www.timescol...ower-1.23975233

Victoria mayor wants cruise ships to plug into shore power

Edited by VIResident, 16 October 2019 - 01:30 PM.

[VIResident]

Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, Tourism Victoria you seem to be digging in. Why?

Will it take the replacement of Executive Directors, boards and staff?

 

You've all known since 2002 that the public had eyes on your actions.  You've had plenty of time to demonstrate leadership.  Time is up. 

Get on board, roll up your shirtsleeves and figure this out - fast.

 

 

Installing shore power is ‘top priority,’ cruise ship industry tells Victoria mayor

https://www.timescol...ayor-1.23979132

".....In a letter to Mayor Lisa Helps, Cruise Lines International Association identifies shore power as a “top priority” for the industry and offers to designate several key people to assist council on the issue."

 

More cruise-ship traffic brings more emissions, but pollutants reduced

https://www.timescol...uced-1.23979142

 

".....On the heels of a new report showing greenhouse-gas emissions at Ogden Point have increased nearly 20 per cent over the past 10 years, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority has announced it will explore the business case for establishing shore power at the site.

 

 

The report, produced by Victoria’s Synergy Enterprises for the harbour authority, concluded that since 2010, greenhouse-gas emissions have increased 19.1 per cent to just over 12,000 tonnes, or the equivalent of 3,241 vehicles on the road per year."

 

WWF study: cruise ships dumping more than a billion litres of grey water off B.C. shores (August 2019)

https://www.mycomoxv...ThqCOxKA3KuOfMY

 

"....Cruise ships are dumping more than a billion litres of grey water off British Columbia’s coast.

This comes from a new study commissioned by World Wildlife Fund Canada.

Grey water — the drainage from dishwater, galley sinks, and showers — may contain contaminants ranging from grease, oil and flame retardants to disinfectants, fecal coliform and micro-plastics, among other substances. Because of limited storage on vessels, it’s common practice for ships of all sizes to discharge grey water into the ocean.

The study found that ships off the cost dumped 1.54 billion litres of the stuff in 2017. That’s equivalent to more than 600 Olympic-size swimming pools.

Of that, the report found that 1.37 billion litres came from cruise ships."

 

CRUISE SHIP GARBAGE ANGERS VICTORIA RESIDENTS NEAR EXPANDED WASTE FACILITY

https://www.iheartra...ility-1.9750925

 

"......The CRD says during the cruise ship season, 150 tonnes of cruise ship waste is dumped at the landfill every month, and the cruise ship companies are charged $157 per tonne.

"Everyone is talking about being green," Klein said. "But is it green to take that type of garbage? I don’t think it is."

 

Edited by VIResident, 17 October 2019 - 05:51 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Socrates already held the title as the oldest woman to do so after sailing around the world in 2013.

Now, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) plans on honouring Socrates in an naming ceremony at Victoria’s Inner Harbour.

The GVHA is not revealing what exactly will be the namesake, but simply that it will be at the lower causeway of the Causeway Marina across the street from the Fairmont Empress Hotel on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 10 a.m..

 

 

https://www.vicnews....aming-ceremony/

[Nparker]

The Socrates District?

[Victoria Watcher]

“A lot of our facilities are aging, so this will end up being a big conversation with the Greater Victoria community about how [the GVHA] responds to aging infrastructure,” he said.

 

That means how do they fund what is expected to be the heavy cost of maintaining public facilities that generate no revenue, such as the Lower Causeway and Ogden Point breakwater.

 

 

 

i guess the public portion of the breakwater generates no revenue but it allows cruise ships to dock.  the lower causeway?  ya just lock that up.

 

https://www.timescol...dock-1.24016898

[Victoria Watcher]

The authority has laid off 23 staff members, a 50 per cent reduction, Robertson said.

 

It anticipates its annual $16 million in operating revenue will be trimmed down to about $5 million if it loses the entire cruise-ship season, which had been scheduled to start April 3, with more than 280 ship visits and in excess of 770,000 passengers expected at Ogden Point.

 

https://www.timescol...airs-1.24123515

[Matt R.]

GVHA deals insurmountable blow to harbour ferries.

https://vancouverisl...ority-1.5002133

Matt.

[Spy Black]

GVHA have been drunk on their own presumed power for years.

[Nparker]

GVHA deals insurmountable blow to harbour ferries....

Nice to see the GVHA showing support for a local business in difficult times. 

Just one more example of the atrocious governance that runs rampant in our region.

[Spy Black]

The thing is the GVHA doesn't really answer to anybody, and they take full advantage of that to throw their weight around like the incompetent bullies they truly are.

[Mike K.]

GVHA statement:

Media Statement: Victoria Harbour Ferry Operations with Greater Victoria Harbour Authority

June 26, 2020

Unfortunately, the owner of Victoria Harbour Ferry has refused to sign an agreement with us at this time and because of this they are unable to operate on our properties. Agreements with GVHA are in place for the insurance and legal purposes, as with any landlord-tenant arrangement.

We regret that the owner has made the decision to suspend operations rather than work with us to sign an agreement. For the past month, our management team had worked with Victoria Harbour Ferry to establish an agreement, without success. As a sign of good faith, we allowed Victoria Harbour Ferry to restart their operations while we worked through the agreement process. We look forward to working with this company when their agreement is signed.

During the past several months, our team has worked to support several commercial tenants that hold agreements with us. We created a rent deferral program for all tenants, which has allowed for deferrals from April, May, and June to be paid back up to June 2021. We are also in the process of submitting our application to the Canadian Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program to provide further assistance to our tenants.

Due to the suspension of cruise in Canada until October 31, 2020, our organization will not receive 70% of our forecasted revenues, or $12.5 million, for this fiscal. For our organization to operate without agreements in place with our commercial tenants only puts us at further risk.

We are all in this together, so a collaborative approach that is solutions-focused remains a top priority for our community-based, not-for-profit organization.

Ian Robertson
CEO
Greater Victoria Harbour Authority

[Victoria Watcher]

it’s just a battle over money. happens every day in every business during this downturn. I’m not sure there is all that much to see here.

we don’t know what harbour ferries asked. or what concessions the authority offered. but the two likely did not come close enough together to close the gap. so no “agreement was signed”.

is the city giving crystal gardens rent relief to Wilson’s? or to the carriage operators for their parking stalls?

is the city giving parking relief to parlade pass holders only using the parksde a few times a month now?

the answer to those additional questions above might be “yes” and if it is then it means taxpayers are footing the bill.

if the harbour authority foregoes a large portion of the ferries rent they likely have to lay even more people off.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 June 2020 - 01:11 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

speaking of wilson's they were to come onboard with a competing service this summer.

 

https://www.timescol...jolt-1.23910346

 

 

 

Victoria will have a quiet and environmentally friendly new tourist attraction buzzing around its harbour next year when the Victoria Electric Boat Co. takes to the waves.

 

 

The Gray Line Hop-On-Hop-Off division of Wilson’s Group will add a nautical component to its tours with six fully-electric boats offering a hop-on-hop-off service around the Inner Harbour and Gorge Waterway.

 

 

 

 

maybe harbour authority is now thinking granting the harbour ferries a near-monopoly is not the best course of action.  maybe more operators can come onboard if harbour ferries loses some of its prime docking space.

 

maybe the harbour authority wants to make the docking for competing services more like an airport - or a cruise ship terminal.  where multiple parties have access to the spaces.

 

 

 

The causeway and wharf properties make up about 80 per cent of the infrastructure used by the Victoria Harbour Ferry, said owner and managing partner Barry Hobbis.

 

“I’ll be looking for some people to buy some used boats I guess,” Hobbis said, emotion slipping into his voice during the Friday afternoon phone interview with Black Press Media. Hobbis said he wanted to discuss the latest agreement with the GVHA and come to some “common ground” in the latest terms. Chief among the concerns is the nine-month agreement with no options for renewal and future business planning.

 

 

https://www.vicnews....ting-agreement/

 

 

Though it did not have an agreement with the harbour authority, the company had been operating a small fleet of vessels for the past three weeks.

 

The authority offered a deal to the company earlier this year that would have allowed the ferries to continue operating until next spring. Terms of that offer have not been made public.

 

Hobbis said he had issues with a number of clauses in the offer, with the biggest sticking point the fact that it would expire next spring, which would be of little use in planning recovery from a pandemic.

 

“Any business is looking at three to five years just to get to a recovery level where they may be financially viable again,” he said.

 

He had hoped to negotiate, but was told the offer was not up for discussion.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...rity-1.24161031

 

 

 

Harbour authority chief executive Ian Robertson said it tried to work with the company over the past few months, and the deal it offered was designed to be fair and consistent with other operators.

 

“We’re not prepared to cut side deals with particular operators, or with any operators,” he said. “We have been more than fair with what we’ve put in front of them.”

 

Asked if it was worth losing the long-time operator, Robertson noted that it was Victoria Harbour Ferry that decided to suspend operations. He said he remains open to making a deal with the company. “My line is always open.”

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 June 2020 - 04:19 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

here is the way almost all commercial tenancies work eventually:

 

• after years of marginally successful enterprises and fairly rapid turnover of tenants in a certain space a strong business comes along.
• the landlord sees the prosperity and feels he's not getting "his share" of the fortune.
• the landlord tries to renegotiate or tries to add extras to extract more money.
• at the end of the lease term parties can't come to terms and the tenant leaves.

 

this does not happen in every case but it does in most actually.  it might take 5, 10, 30 years.  but it usually happens.  you just don't notice it too often because usually the turning over tenants are the marginal type.

 

most - and certainly not all of course - long-term prosperous businesses own their own premises and facilities.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 June 2020 - 05:26 AM.

[Sparky]

^^ There is a back story to this that we may never know about.

 

What does Robertson mean when he states " tried to work with the company over the past few months". Has anybody noticed a tourist in this town in the past few months while all of Hobbis's boats have been tied up?

 

I love this one "the deal it offered was designed to be fair and consistent with other operators". What other operators? Did Harbour Air have to sign a contract that expires in the spring? What about the fish and chip trailer?

 

Hobbis says he had hoped to negotiate, but was told the offer was not up for discussion.

Robertson says he said he remains open to making a deal with the company.

 

Somebody is not telling the truth here.

 

Victoria's tourist industry has had the biggest kick in the balls in history this year.

 

Every tourism related business is hurting. Is now the time to be flexible? ....or stubborn?

 

...or helpful?

[Victoria Watcher]

Harbour authority chief executive Ian Robertson said it tried to work with the company over the past few months, and the deal it offered was designed to be fair and consistent with other operators.

 

“We’re not prepared to cut side deals with particular operators, or with any operators,” he said. “We have been more than fair with what we’ve put in front of them.”

 

Asked if it was worth losing the long-time operator, Robertson noted that it was Victoria Harbour Ferry that decided to suspend operations. He said he remains open to making a deal with the company. “My line is always open.”

 

 

 

maybe he just sees that harbour ferries bring little return for all the trouble (lots of people including drunk pub crawlers) on the docks.  most of their other docks they just lock off and have daily weekly or monthly moorage. 

 

the whale watching boats take 100 people then go away for 3 or 4 hours.  that seems like a simpler dock lease than come-and-go ferries all day long.  one big whale watching departure takes in more revenue than the little ferries all take in running all day.

 

the harbour ferries have not been all that kind to locals - cancelling the annual pass (that songhees residents used) years ago.

 

i hare to see one more attraction go (since we have few to begin with) but they do not really add directly much to other harbour businesses.  even fisherman's wharf gets the vast majority of its traffic from shore.

 

and as i mentioned earlier - another operator with very tight ties to the harbour authority wants in - wilsons/gray line.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 June 2020 - 06:55 AM.